Updates- At last!

Hi All. It feels like forever since I last posted so I hope you havn't all gone and given up on me!
I've been floating between projects lately, not really getting my teeth into any of them but enjoying all of them in short burst. This canvas isn't finished. I seem to have hit a wall with it even though I started out with a plan- which I usually don't! It's a recycled canvas. It was originally a painting I did inspired by a unit I did on Jackson Pollock for my course. I liked the painting but one day when I needed a canvas to paint on and didn't have the money to buy one I decided to paint over it- which was a flop! I painted over a free spirited painting with no agenda to attempt a coffee themed painting which was purely commercial. I never finished the painting. That was over a year ago and a week or 2 ago I decided to pull it out again and give it a 3rd life...obviously nest inspired. I covered the canvas in tissue paper to add more texture as by now it has a lot of texture given to it by the previous layers of paint! I didn't have a lot of choice but to go with it! lol. I love the effect of the tissue paper (also recycled) and it's lovely to paint onto. The mesh is formally a bright pink hessian type material gleaned from a bunch of professionaly arranged flowers that my daughter got in hospital. It was quickly transformed to the browny-gold stuff you see here making it much more me! I thought I was going to do a weaving with wool and other fibres straight into the canvas (sewn into) that would be more of a 'flat nest' than a nest but still inspired by my love of nests. I went through a whole 'flat nest' stage before I made my way to pilings and my weaved nests. I am not sure what I am going to do with the rest now but as there's no rush I am just going to wait and see where my muse takes me!

I have also been teaching myself to paint birds. These 4 are my first 'new' attempts and while not brilliant the are much better than my previous efforts! I tried to paint birds at the start of the year and I got so annoyed and frustrated with them I gave up and told myself I would come back to them when I was ready, I had no idea that would be 6 months later! I was in the 2nd hand shop recently doing my regular hunt for art supplies and books when I came across a fantastic book called "The country diary of an Edwardian lady" which was written in 1906 and is full of wonderful water colour paintings of the birds and plants that it's Author, Edith Holden saw in her own garden in Warwickshire and on her travels through England and Scotland. She includes lots of poetry and quotes by Shakespere. This book is ofcourse a reproduction and the cover note tells me that someone named Tom gave it to his " Beautiful Wife in memory of our trip to England in 1981" (followed by 4 kisses!) My amature attempts do little to showcase her wonderful work, these birds are almost childish and cute but I do feel encouraged by the progress from my last attempts!

The last photo is a quick painting I did for my course where I had to make the words the painting...I worked quickly and it was a good energy release. It wasn't until later that the white spatters looked like...somthing else a bird does! lol lol.

The first Tuscany is going under a 'renovation' of sorts..I have covered part of it and started again in the canvas. I will post pics soon.

Ok, fingers crossed this will all post for me now. I will attempt to visit y'all now too..can someone please leave me Sweet Irene's new blog address as I can't find it! Thankyou:)